Considering a game that loves dice as much as D&D, how much do we really know about what is or isn't random?
Discuss.
Also, Michael from VSauce talks about randomness, dice, and probabilities. If you don't know about the youtube channel VSauce, then you should really check it out.
So, in conclusion, all dice are slightly weighted, and the superstitions about low rolling dice compared to high rolling ones are true.
Mephi1234 wrote:
We don't use dice in D&D for randomness. We use them for their psychedelic effects. I mean literally, we use them for catalyzing the manifestation of hidden mental contents.
Like when we roll dice for traits, bonds and ideals during character creation. We use dice not because we want the result to be random. Instead, the point is that the arbitrarily assigned significance creates the illusiory sense of real significance, which is an effective psychological trick for empowering the imagination.
It's like the tarot, or any similar divinatory technique. The sense of specific significance brings forth stuff form the unconscious mind that's already there.
And I think that even the attack roll works like that. The game mechanics only has to be consistent enough to create the illusion of real significance, and so provide some kind of a disembarassing psychic pseudo-validation to the concrete manifestation of the imagination.
Even casio dice arn't perfect.
But they are close enough to perfect that the variations won't be detectable before they switch to a new die. (as in, it would take million or so throws to find out).
It's also the reason why they put 1 and 20 (2 -19, 3 -18, ect...) on opposite sides. And then you further mix them by puting the 20 and 2 next to eachother.
So if your dice is rounded towards, or away, from a specific area, you still get a mix of results
One of mine favors 4 and 17's. I made a jack of all trades for that die, who either succeded or not.
But the worst was when a DM had a die that rolled alot of 1 and 20's. Lot's of TPK's.
mellored wrote:
Ram, you may like the Global Consciousness Project. http://noosphere.princeton.edu/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufWPPSh0oPc
Whenever randomness comes up in conversation, I always recommend Random.org. For anyone interested, it's a useful (and fun) site.
I had a d20 which rolled either 1 or 20 almost half the time.
Couple that with a DM back in the day who used some crazy fumble/critical tables, and I think I fumble-killed at least 3 fellow players with that d20.
That d20 "mysteriously" disappeared from my dice-set one day, and coincidently enough all the other players were cheering when I couldn't find it anymore... 
Siphersh wrote:
I have a d20 that often rolls 1s and 20s, and another that likes to stay away from the extremes, but feels like it rolls a little lower overall. I also have another couple that are more balanced, and some less favored ones that I haven't used consistently enough to get a feel for.
As a player, I usually decide which set of dice I'm going to use for a particular session when I'm getting ready. There is a lot of "Do I feel lucky tonight?" going on in my decision making.
As a DM, I usually end up using all of my d20s, but choosing to roll the green one (1s and 20s) always feels more meaningful.
Siphersh wrote: